The plan was to wait until I’d got down below 19 stone, and for my mum to come back from China so we could go out on our first ride together. However, now that I am 18 stone 12, my mum told me not to wait, and so I hoped for good weather.
Unbelievably for the North East, come Sunday, it wasn’t raining. In fact, the sun was out. So, I fed the cat, consumed half a ton of bran flakes, and got myself ready. There’s a nice cycle path not too far away where there tends to be no dogs (dogs and bikes don’t mix), so that would be where I’d take my first pedal strokes.
The first few minutes were actually pretty terrifying. Whoever first said you never forget how to ride a bike was an idiot. It’s been a good 14 years since I last rode a road bike, and at least 2 years since I rode any bike at all. On a turbo trainer, you don’t move. So no matter how hard you pedal, you don’t feel it. On the road, the pedal strokes felt completely different, and a little unnerving. The slightest movement of the handlebars brings about a reaction - the Burls is extremely twitchy - a common trait of titanium frames I am told.
Another common trait is the inherent flexibility. Unlike the aluminium mountain bikes I rode 10 years ago, the Burls feels more like an extremely expensive steel frame, it’s comfortable and smoother than aluminium. The trade off for the ride quality is supposed to be a loss of stiffness, but I didn’t notice it. In fact, the bottom bracket area (the bottom of the frame most prone to flex from the pedal stroke) is more rigid than my Orbea aluminium frame, so every pedal stroke translates into hurtling the bike forward at a rate of knots.
10 minutes or so into my ride, which admittedly was only a gentle canter, I began to realise just how awesome the bike is. It’s not the lightest in the World (the boss’s Trek Madone weighs 2lbs less) but with a 19 stone ape bashing at the pedals, that doesn’t really matter. Besides, I’d gone for strength over weight initially - I can upgrade with lighter parts as I lose weight should I feel the need. The bike just seems eager to be ridden hard, and I’m afraid that in my current overweight guise, I do not do the bike justice.
My decision to go with Campagnolo over the usual Shimano also appears to be a good decision. Shifts are lightning quick and responsive, and the brakes seem perfectly balanced (if a little vague at times).
In all I was on the bike for 45 minutes, by which time the cold had got to me, and nature was calling. Hopefully the weather will be nice next Sunday, and I can rest on Saturday to enjoy a longer ride.
I am a little concerned that all my hard work will be undone by the Sunday dinner currently in the oven…